next on msnbc sunday, the war games are on. the u.s. and south korea flex their military might while north korea remains poised to strike there. will china's renewed overtures diffused tensions? the waiting and worrying and warning. the u.s. braces for another wikileaks release, but what damage could it cause? holiday dollar signs. are folks across the country buying into greater spending? should it be a national selection or fake one. the great debate. what kind of tree should you choose if you want to go green in morning? we'll break that down.

welcome to msnbc sunday. it's 9:00 in the east, 6:00 out west, and here's what's happening at the moment. first off, the u.s. and south korea are standing side by side in the face of new aggression by the north. right now, war games just hours in at the moment are under way in the yellow sea. a u.s. aircraft carrier and a south korean destroyer are both part of today's military exercises. north korea says if these vessels or any others come too close to its territory, it will attack them mercilessly, and china is saying it's time for diplomats to come together to diffuse that situation. nbc's adrian mong is live in beijing. take us through the latest developments, of course what has been said by the chinese government, the overture of the six-way talks. >> reporter: good morning, richard. well, there was a hastily arranged, unusual press briefing called this sunday afternoon here in beijing where china's

special representative to the korean peninsula affairs basically told reporter that beijing is proposing an emergency session of all the head of ts of the delegation to six-party talks. this is ain't surprise because china and north korea place a high framework on the nations. now, china has said this does not mean that those talks to denuclearize north korea are starting. south korea after a lot of back of and forth finally said it will carefully consider the proposal or carefully examine the proposal. the wording was very carefully parsed, and japan reacted similarly, cautiously. most analysts say basically both of those countries, tokyo and seoul, are leaning against the suggestion. of course, as you mentioned, the u.s. and south korea went ahead with their planned joint naval exercises today despite north

korea's warning it would take retaliatory action if it considered its territory violated. china has been warning not to go ahead with those exercises since they take place in the yellow sea, which may also be considered part of china's territorial waters. generally there was a sense of calm in seoul. s in in the island where tuesday's skirmishes took place, journalists were asked to leave the icelasland which characteri the situation as bad. many residents said they don't want to return to the island. finally, south korea's president bak is due to address the nation tomorrow first thing in the morning. it will be the first time he public ly addressing the countr since the incident. >> i know we have a satellite delay here, but i want to ask you this. north korea would like to have bilateral discussions with the united states to show that they are as important as the u.s.

what is china's perspective in bilateral discussions between north korea and the united states versus this six-way talk, which has not been really working so far? >> reporter: well, it's hard to say where china stands. i mean, obviously, it wants to be involved. it sees itself as -- by taking this gesture and proposed these emergency talks, it does see itself as a broker of sorts here trying to take a stance after renewed pressure from the u.s. bilateral talks are something it may encourage because it takes it out at the lime light. it takes the heat off china because it has been embarrassed in the last couple of years. there have been the second nuclear tests, there's been this alleged attack, sinking of the south korean warship. there have been numerous little incidents along the way that suggest north korea is raeally not easily reigned in by beijing. >> not only difficult for the

united states but difficult for china as it tries to, again, negotiate the relationships it has had quite many years. thank you adrian mong in beijing. she'll visit with us later today as those exercises continue in the yellow sea. coming up in hour, we speak with a man on the council that advises south korea's president on foreign policy. we'll find out how north korea's neighbors are reacting to the latest provocations. we go live to seoul for that. a big developing story this morning. as the u.s. government hits back at wikileaks that plans to release classified information, in a letter to the group's founder the state department warns of, quote, grave consequences. a federal legal adviser writes, quote, you have undermined your stated objective by disseminating this material widing without reaction to the live your actions endanger.

mike is live at the white house. that was a very clear statement from the state department in terms of their view. what is the white house saying at the moment? >> reporter: the administration, the state department, all the executive branch, even congress are bracing for what promises to be a very embarrassing and large leak of classified state department cables. not only embarrassing in terms of the evaluations that are made, you know, between diplomats on the united states side about the people that they're talking to in america's closest allies within britain and saudi arabia and germany, but also the potential compromises of military assets overseas. tlae that letter was written in response that the president of wikileaks wrote asking him to outline the risk of harm for the impending leak. they say there are top three concerns here, richard.

they place at risk the lives of countless individuals and ongoing military operations and place at risk ongoing cooperation between countries. to that end, the u.s. government has tried to reach out to some of these countries in question. secretary of state hillary clinton making calls all this holiday weekend to some of the top leaders and some of the closest ail i didn't sllies thi. that document dump is expected sometime in the next 24 hours, richard. >> thank you. we're getting a clear picture this morning as well of the support behind that alleged bomb plot in portland, oregon. 19-year-old mohamed osman mohamud is expected to appear in court tomorrow. authorities say he planned to set off explosives in the middle of a crowded christmas tree lighting ceremony. jim forman has been following that at king-tv live in portland. what new details do you have about the suspect and his background? >> reporter: mohamud he was

definitely not a loaner. he was an outgoing young man. there were problems throughout his course of going to school here in the portland area. one incident, a young man, a classmate claims that mohamud said he hates americans and was taken seriously enough that school counselors were brought in. he also told for a physics project made a presentation on how to build a rocket-propelled grenade and other explosive-type things. this is a young man, a somali-born naturalized american citizen who was sending time in corvallis, oregon. it's about 90 minutes in from here, home to oregon state university, where he was taking classes. he never officially enrolled in a degree program, but we understand his interest was in physics. the people on the campus say that really nothing stood out about the young man. he did attend services at a mosque, a community center in

corvallis, but they said that he also was not a standout. in fact, what did stand out was his lack of commitment to the muslim faith. >> jim, how has the muslim-american community reacted? how has the somali community reacted to this so far? >> reporter: of course, it quickly denounced the bomb plot, the alleged plot, and they called for calm. they came out last night and said that they hope that the community understands that this is not representative of their religion. they did, however, make very clear that they were receiving threats against mosques and other community facilities tied to the muslim community, and that the police were taking those threats very seriously. we're waiting to see how those investigations pan out as well. people here in portland simply showed that this quintessential medium-sized city with a big heart, they call this portland's living room because much of the city comes through here at some

point to celebrate large occasions, that it could be a plot that was foiled here, a plot that was hatched to go off here at the christmas tree lighting. >> portland is a very welcoming city. jim forman right in the middle of it for us from our affiliate in king-tv. police in michigan are looking for a pair of suspects in connection with with a shooting at a busy mall. gunfire erupted between rival groups of teenagers. one of the victims was a bystander. near los angeles a car drove into a restaurant killing a woman inside and injuring three others. yesterday's crash occurring when the driver lost control while trying to make a left-hand turn. police are trying to figure out how this whole thing happened. they say the driver passed a sobriety test in that. we'll look at airline travel this thanksgiving. that week is up 3.5% from last year. we look at the numbers with an estimated 24 million people getting into that long metal tube. today and tomorrow should see the most traffic as we know and

fear as holiday travelers head home. mike is at laguardia airport in new york city. you said earlier no delays as of yet. still got good news for you? >> reporter: absolutely good news here. you don't see anyone walking around with the hairied here we go again look. they express to us they expected problems and didn't stee them. we went on a couple of websites to look at maps of the u.s. that have weather delays or any other kinds of delays. no active delays reported anywhere. here at laguardia, jfk, newark, no big problems. this is a busy airport, too. some 277,000 passengers have come through this airport on the holiday weekend. the t s the tecurity lines getting through in ten minutes or less. they have gotten no advisories about any planned protests against the enhanced security. for all those reasons, it's been a painless travel experience for people so far.

>> it hasn't been that bad. it's been actually kind of busy, it's better the way they're making it. i'm really having no trouble. >> i wasn't delayed, flights were on time, security was supposed to be heightened. it didn't seem like it was, so no problems. >> reporter: that's what we kept hearing, no problems. a lot of people took earlier flights in anticipation of the reporting of objection to enhanced security measures. people will get home early. not a bad thing to do on the sunday of a holiday weekend. >> nothing to complain about. what fun is that? we'll take it that way. thank you, sir. spo ckane, washington declaring a state of snow emergency after a major storm. cleanup crews will plow day and night to clear roads.

they face an uphill battle, however, because there's another winter storm expected to hit the region on monday night. for a look at national forecast, let's go to the weather channel's alex wallace. alex, i do see some white stuff on that map behind you. >> this is a lot of cloud cover we're looking at, and it's in association with the same system that impacted portions of eastern washington there for us. on the move to the east, and now it's still creating headaches out there for us in the intermountain west, and we have snow showers parts of montana heads into idaho and utah. if you're traveling in salt lake city, could be tough to do so. some of the totals we find over the next 24 to 48 hours, aspen 4 to 6. good news for ski lovers there. heading to fargo, 5 to 8 inches. that will mainly come in tomorrow as this storm system heading east. if you travel for today, eastbound is the best bet for you, because we find quiet skies through the central plains and

upper midwest. good conditions from xhi towards st. louis as you go up and down i-55. into the northeast we should be quiet as well right along 95 through the meg op liss we're looking good. across the eastern lakes we had snow shower to slow you down a bit. >> a lot of folks are heading east. a loss of congressmen because a lame duck congress is returning this week, but will it take action on the hot button issue of extending those bush tax cuts? the sales slips from black friday are in. we have the sales slips information. how did retailers fare on the busiest shopping day of the year? ♪

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black friday spending is looking solid for brick and mortar stores. hundreds of thousands of folks hitting big box retailers,

outlets and mall after the thanksgiving holiday. while the final numbers are tallied, the early figures are telling. the folks at shopper track have them there for us chls they say retail sales were up 0.3% with consumers spending 10 p$10.7 billion. online sails enjoy a jump of 12%. a lame collison congress faces a long list of pressing issues. the focus is on the economy but global events could interfere. eleanor cliff is a contributing he had for for "newsweek." the lame duck congress is flying back from a turkey dinner on thursday. top issues here, of course, is we have 2 million people across this country that are concerned about unemployment benefits. >> right. and the extension of unemployment benefits is one of the top issues on the calendar,

and before they went home, there was a vote in the senate, and they fell short of the 60 votes to break the filibuster and the republicans basically blocked the extension of unemployment benefits. will the new tea party republicans or i would say these are the old republicans in this session, but they're certainly influenced by the coming arrival of the tea party folks, and are they going to be willing to cut off these benefits right before the holidays? because the deficit is more important when it has such a marginal impact on the deficit. >> you think on the point there, with these new fae party republicans coming in, is the lame duck congress really about them or is it going to be about the democrats being able to get those last -- that last bit of progress they hoped for? >> well, it's all about those 60 votes in the senate, i think, and there aren't enough democrats. you've got to pick off a handful

of republicans. you would think there are several retiring republicans, some with a reputation for moderation. i think george voig vish of ohio. you have the two women senators in maine who have frequently crossed the aisle. it seems to me that common sense would tell you that at the last minute they're going to deliver this christmas present to the unemployed and overcome the arguments that, oh, if you cut them off, they'll go out and find jobs. there aren't any jobs out there, and this is the worst economic climate we've seen in some time. >> you think that will go? >> if i were putting money on it, i'd put money on the extension, yes. >> natural cost about 5 to $6 billion a month some are estimating, so that's the argument from the gop. tuesday, if you could be a fly on the wall as the president meets with congressional leaders, what do you think they're going to be talking about? what do you think the president is going to be saying we need to get done? >> i think he's going to make a

push for the start treaty with the russians and point out this is the extension of the work that president reagan started, and he'll invoke the hero of the republicans and hope to tweak their conscience and point out he has henry kissinger and james baker and a lot of leading republican figures supporting him on this. i think the start treaty is prominent. of course, the tax cuts and i think don't ask don't tell will come up as well. we now have the pentagon saying it should be overturned. it looks like the courts are positioned to follow-through on that. basically i think he's going to appeal to the senate, again, it comes down to the senate to find those 60 votes. >> eleanor, i have to squeeze this last question in for you. we have to finish with sarah palin. she has that new book and on that tour. she's stopping in some small cities where you might think,

oh, i'm talking about a city of 4,000 people in iowa for for instance. what sh she doing? is she trying to sell books or are folks saying she's looking for 2012? >> anything in iowa has to do with 2012. i think she goes to small communities where they feel they're forgot sxn a large part of sarah palin's appeal is this notion she's running against the elites not serving the real americans. i think she's on one side of that divide, and i think she's probably positioned very well to do well in the iowa caucuses should she choose to enter the race. >> between you and me and a lot of other folks, you don't go to iowa this time of year for the good weather certainly. >> exactly. >> eleanor cliff, thank you so much. >> thank you. shoppers are again out in force today trying to get that perfect gift, that good deal. who will wind up spending more this holiday season? will it be the guys or gals? is that answer is coming up. ♪

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want to win a vehicle? watch this. the excitement begins. >> oh, yeah. he made that. that guy should be excited. he just won himself a brand-new car. this sacramento kings fan saw his team lose last night to the xhi bu chicago bulls. that's a game he will never forget. black friday has come and gone, but the annual quest for affordable gifts will continue up to christmas, kind of like that long shot that that guy made. who shells out the most money during the holiday season? is it the men or women? conservatives or the liberals? you ever wonder or think of breaking it down? we have regina lewis here with some insight on that. so, tell me, guys or gals? >> it is actually guys, believe

trnt. >> are you serious? >> annually they spend 19% more. despite the fact the women are the gift givers because guys buy the big ticket items. every guy in america had a flat screen tv in their cart. >> good thing they're cheaper now. >> a little hints out there, guys. they buy the fine jewelry for the women, and that is the higher price point. women buy in bulk and buy quantity. >> that wasn't a little hint there, was it? >> thanks for that. >> are we the bargain hunters? i said not, maybe. >> no, but i think guys research their electronics purchases, their purchases on the consumer reports website and do research before big automobiles and et cetera. they're more hunter gatherer, they're the hunter. >> i'm going to buy a flat screen tv. >> it goes a little something like that. >> that's what i do when i go shopping. i need a new computer game. conservatives or liberals, who

spends more? >> conservatives give more to xhart. liberal, there's an onclave in austin, texas, and they spends the most anywhere. we're going with liberals on that. >> a lot of this information we got has been what? how would you describe all that information? zo >> well, some is anecdotal and some is trying to extrapolate different things. in these economic times, in 2008 they flat-out stopped shopping. now everybody is clearly looking for value. you see things like watches come back, because people can rationalize that purchase. >> watches? we have dproenls now? >> if you buy a high-end watch you pass it down to your kids. i might not splurge on couture clothing, but there's an upper tick in the economic sector. >> how does it look? >> there's a lot of momentum

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the main causes of engine failure. i think a dime went up my nose. yeah, it happens. don't change your car. change your oil to castrol gtx high mileage. its more than just oil. it's liquid engineering. a new burst of artillery fire was heard from north korea today, as south korea and the u.s. joined forces in the yellow sea. the blast rattled people on the island that was attacked on tuesday. residents and journalists sought cover in an emergency shelter briefly, but the island was not hit. officials are trying to pinpoint exactly where the artillery fire had come from. north korea's state-run tv just broadcast comments on the military exercise. it says the u.s. and south korea are trying to ignite a war. lee is a member of the international institute for strategic studies and serves as a member of the south korean's advisory council. he joins us live right now via

skype from seoul, south korea. i want to talk about the firing. what would happen based on discussions you have had with the government, how would the south koreans react should another attack happen now? >> well, the new defense minister, richard, will be confirmed by the parliament in the next week or so. he has said unequivocally if they do it again or any other place along the 38 lt parallel, our military will respond to everything we've got to the extent it's a measured response. none of us wants war, but they attack us we will reciprocate in my p kind. there's no doubt in my mound. >> give me a sense of how comfortable or the lack of comfort, shall we say, that the south korean government has with going to work, going to that extra step that you have

intimated? >> all i'm saying is that our president, president bak, and everyone else from the cabinet down, we realize we have to modernize our so-called rules of engagement. we have to work closely with american allies first and foremost and make sure our military will respond effectively so the deterrents and defense is held here on the korean peninsula. in other words, the reason why we are telling the north koreans don't push us is because we simply cannot let our citizens die in the face of north korea without any type of response. >> there's been criticism at least from south koreans that the government has not responded strongly enough. they want a stronger response to north korea's artillery attack on the island. from your discussions with the president as well as what you've heard coming from high-level authorities there in south korea, what have they told you? what have you heard that makes you feel either more comfortable

or less comfortable with the way things are going? >> well, i can only say this. i think every single south korean member government today is basically very firm in the belief na with the ongoing u.s. joint naval exercise, the "uss george washington" is in the waters now for the fourfour-day exercise, this is the strongest message to north koreans that they shouldn't rock the boat. despite their antics and barrages of criticism in the press, i am absolutely convinced the biggest show of force we have seen over the last several months will dpon straight to the north koreans they shouldn't rock the boat because they will face it if they do so. i'm 100% confident and comfortable that the u.s. posture will remain firm and peace will maintain here on the peninsula. >> doctor lee, last one for you. we want to focus on the solution. what are some of the discussions happening at a high level there in your government?

what is a solution here? >> well, you know, just yesterday, richard, a high-level chinese official visited south korea and he met with our foreign minister and president for over two hours to discuss a number of issues. the chinese want to restart the so-called six-party talks. our government will have a formal response tomorrow, but thus far our posture is this. we are always for dialogue and engagement, but the key issue is, dialogue for what ends and engagement under which principles? so long they apologize for the sijing of the ship in march and the most recent attacks and back to the negotiating table, we are always willing to work with them. >> dr. lee, you're saying the solution then is more of the same? >> no, no, no. what i'm saying is this. we must get assurances from the north korean side they will not attack our civilians or military

without any provocation. we asked the same with the chinese and russians would want from their adversaries. we want to continue with humanitarian assistance of north koreans. we have the special economic zone that will continue. the north koreans know what they can get from us if they return to good behavior and if they basically promise that they will not provoke attacks. as i said, business as usual simply cannot go on. >> gotcha. so maintain deterrents and you're also mentioning off that carrot of returning to aid, non-monetary aid for the north. dr. lee, thank you so much for joining us today in seoul, south korea. working to advise the president, a key ally to the united states there in that part of world. new developments in that alleged bomb plot in portland, oregon that shocked so many.

"the washington post" reports a tip from the muslim community led the fbi here to teenage suspect mohamed osman mohamud. court documents say the 19-year-old plotted what he thought would be a spectacular show of terrorism. he's expected to appear in court tomorrow on this. prosecutors satisfies that mohamud was arrested friday after trying to detonate what he thought were explosives in a van at that ceremony you see there. that's a christmas tree lighting that went off without a hitch. this morning, we have new reaction from the muslim community in portland. take a listen. >> we condemn terrorism wholeheartedly and we believe there's no room for violence in islam and we need to take a stance for peace. >> all right. joining me live for more on all of this is evan coleman. when you heard this happening over this weekend, he was caught in the end, did this surprise you at all? >> not really. we know na there are people out there like this who want to do

terrorist acts on their own, homegrown extremists. portland, oregon is a place where they congress gate. a majority of muslims in the area are peaceful and have no interest, but there is a small extremist community there. in october of 2001 there were a group of seven individuals from port portland, oregon who attempted to travel to pakistan and join the taliban. >> from portland? >> from portland. at least one portland resident was killed after he joined al qaeda. there are individuals out there -- bizarre, portland, oregon. >> we wouldn't think it. >> it's communities like this, though. it's communities like springfield, illinois, portland, oregon where we see these homegrown extremists pop up. it doesn't seem like this is the place where terrorists come from, but that's the point. profiling doesn't work because individuals come from all over the place and joining these movements. it's a small number of people, but they come from very dir

dispersed community. >> we're hearing from our community in portland that the mosque in corvallis attended by mohamud, that teenage suspect we were talking about this morning, was targeted. the mosque was targeted this morning, and it was believed to be an arson. the fire is out, and there was no injuries. so the community there now having to deal with repercussions perhaps of what people believe to be connections coming from mohamud. >> it's unfortunate, too. i don't think he represents the majority of muslims in in community. he doesn't represent the interests there. this is not the kind of reaction that helps things. if you look at what propels these individuals towards these acts, it's the sense they're alienated, isolated, that the community is against them. in fact, this individual was contributing articles to an english language jihady magazine

that has become al qaeda's inspire magazine, the very first english language magazine, this magazine draws attention to acts like this, acts of arson at mosques saying american muslims can't be with fellow americans, join us instead. this doesn't help things. >> certainly that magazine and those who write for the magazine might be in question right now as they try to find other mohamuds. >> they're looking at this and realizing that contributor include people from inside the u.s. who else right now is writing for these magazines not located in yemen or afghanistan but right here in the u.s. who is in contact with actual al qaeda units abroad. while this individual was a homegrown extremist, he was in touch with individuals in northwest pakistan, apparently in yemen, and that is very unsettles from the%ive of outside terrorist groups to recruit americans without traveling a abroad. this individual was potentially one of those.

>> evan coleman will come back later, and we'll talk about how mohamuds, shall we say, are out there across country. you have a general understanding of what that might be for us. evan coleman, thank you. winter storms out west threaten to make this a long day for travelers heading home. >> as of wednesday when i was out here, really not any major problems at o'hare, nothing with the tsa security screenings, nothing else to report. weatherwise we're looking good in chicago today. we're on the cold side, we're in the 20s, but as far as conditions are concerned, we're

going to see lots of sunshine here in the midwest and those conditions are going to be extending through new york as well. none of those armts affected but we're looking for trouble in the midwest. keeping a careful eye on salt lake city, utah. salt lake could get one two feet of snow. the airport and roadways and some of those mountain passes, richard, could be dangerous for that travel trip back home. >> be careful on the way to grandma's house and on the way home as well. thank you, julie martin, there at chicago's o'hare airport keeping warm. the week ahead could prove pivotal in the debate over whether openly gay people can serve in the military. find out why when "msnbc sunday" comes back. hey boss! do we have aflac?

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congress is having a fitd this week for a ban on openly gay troops serving in the armed forces. the senate will hold hearings later in the week on that, too.

ann i want to start by asking this. we have support from secretary gates as well as president obama. what's the holdup here? >> the holdup is there's about ten moderate senators on both sides of the aisle who are waiting for that report due on tuesday. mostly republicans but mostly democrats say though don't want to vote on the defense authorization bill that would end don't ask don't tell until they read that report. we have reason to believe that it's going to say that a majority of troops think that it it won't be that big of a deal to end the ban on openly gay colleagues, but there are enough lawmakers out there waiting to hear the will of the troops and military leaders. it's believed that by the end of the week when they hear from the top military brass they can make a decision. >> the critics want to go through due process and make their decision but mentioned a majority of those in that study

say that it is okay, but there are some -- there's a portion of the segment that are more resistantment. >> this big report is on tuesday, and it will account for a survey over the summer. it found from what we've been told that about 40% of the marines are concerned about the possibility of serving alongside openly gay troops. that's consistent with a few things i've been told. you know, you have top marine commanders who have expressed skepticism or guarded concern about the possibility of doing this, and you have a unit that is traditionally much closer and listens much more to its commanders. when you have commanders out there publicly raising concerns or skeptical about doing this, it's understandable that you would have more marines expressing concern. 40% is still a minority, but it's a sizable minority and once that will be focused on with hearings later this week. >> the hearings are thursday and friday, we expect to hear pro

and anti-repeal. will that be able to sway the senators one way or the other? >> it's believed that it could. senator john mccain is the ranking republican on the senate armed services committee to hold the hearings. he wanted to hear from secretary gates and joint chiefs mullin a co-authors of the report and heads of all of the services. it's bl believed in the conversation with the heads of services friday you will get more concern, not dissension in the ranks but they'll raise legitimate concerns and it's believed guys like mccain and ow other lawmakers may seize on the comments and say see if the service chiefs are saying there are problems, perhaps we should move forward. with that said majority of the country says this ban should be lifted. it appears that a majority of the troops in the report will say that they don't have a problem with it and the report generally is expected to say this isn't a big deal. this can be done at a time of war and here's the way to do it. >> ed o'keeffe, on don't ask,

don't tell. if you want to go green to help the environment this holiday season, you know you've got to buy the christmas tree. real or artificial? stella: hmmm. we're getting new medicare benefits from the new healthcare law. jane: yea. most people will get free cancer screenings.

and 50 percent off of brand name prescription drugs if you're in the donut hole. stella: you read my paper. jane: i went to medicare.gov. it's open enrollment, you know. so i checked out all the options and found a better plan to fit my budget. stella: well, you know what they say...knowledge... jane: knowledge is power.

wake up. a serious question for you right now. should you stick with real or go fake? talking about christmas trees. it's a debate many people are having over the holiday season. here to tell us everybody we need to know about choosing the best holiday tree is frank loenstein at the nature conservancy. i love when you talk about these subjects. it's somewhat seriousness with fun, too. which way should we go? what are are you hearing. >> i work for the nature conservancy. we love our trees. they clean air, clean our water, suck carbon out of the air and keep our climate what we're all used to. so we favor real trees. >> now, the argument would be that if you buy the fake tree,

bigger carbon footprint, what's the breakeven? >> it's hard to say. the plastic christmas tree association claims that if you keep your plastic tree ten years or more it emits lower carbon but they're ignoring a key piece of the equation and that is when you buy a real tree you're helping keep all of the trees that are coming along growing on those christmas tree farms. fewer than 10% of christmas trees on christmas tree farms are cut each year. on those farms right now 1 1/2 trees for every american and those are all growing and drawing carbon out of the air and providing benefits. >> six years, if i keep it six years i'm okay according to statistics? >> ten years. >> ten years. >> average amount. the average is about six years. >> my familied that for 20 years. >> you're doing good. >> a lot of years of trees. but it seems to me on the flip side, you know, this suggestion is, therefore, go down and chop

a tree down to save the environment and somehow i think that doesn't make sense. >> well, again, the thing you've got keep in mine is the tree you're harvesting from a local tree farm or that you're buying from a lot, that's only one out of every ten. the others are still there, still growing. and the christmas tree farmer's going to plant one to three new trees to replace the one that he cut for you. >> does it include the carbon footprint of that long drive that you go with your family to look for the cheapest and most perfect tree and you're going to five different stops dragging a lot of people along with you? >> you know, you've got to drive whether you buy a plastic one or real one. on our website -- >> you can tell i had positive experiences here buying it. >> yeah. that is a challenge. >> exactly. >> nature.org we have resources to help you find a tree close by. think about the carbon footprint of the plastic trees coming over here from china, where over 85%

of the plastic tree sold in the u.s. come from these days. >> a tough choice. paper or plastic? all right. thank you very much, frank lowenstein for breaking that down for us, whether you have to make that decision today or already have. keep ang eye on two major stories. u.s. joint war games with south korea and increasing tensions with north korea. we've got that. the renegade website wikileaks expected to release more u.s. documents this weekend that the government says could unput with the capital one venture card we get double miles on every purchase. so we earned a holiday trip to the big apple twice as fast! dinner! [ garth ] we get double miles every time we use our card. and since double miles add up fast, we can bring the whole gang! it's hard to beat double miles! i want a maze, a sword, a... oww! [ male announcer ] get the venture card from capital one and earn double miles on every purchase, every day. go to capitalone.com.

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